I am a doctor working in a tertiary hospital in Sydney. Most of the patients I look after are cancer patients with a weak immune system and most of them have done the right thing. Gotten vaccinated. Stayed home. Wore a mask at every appointment. Despite everything they try they are getting COVID-19. Maybe the daughter that picks up groceries for them has it. Maybe the nurse who comes to the house to give them antibiotics. It's everywhere and it's unavoidable. Some have obvious symptoms but are struggling to get RATs, they are struggling to get PCRs. They cannot understand why the government isn't telling them more. I know why but I can't say it to them. It's a bad look for the government. I know people who work in the public health unit. They know that none of the decisions being made right now are science-based, they are political. It's because the someone decided we are "all going to get COVID-19 anyway", so why not all at once? Rip the band-aid off quickly. Then people will start going back to the shops, the pub, their place or worship.
I have spent the whole morning trying to organise sotrovimab for my patients. It's the first step in patients who currently only have mild or moderate COVID-19 but it has to be given in the first days after symptoms start. You can't bring a COVID-19 positive patient into an infusion centre without risking exposure to every other patient there so these people have to be directed to "hot zones" where every person has COVID-19. If they did a RAT which was positive but it's a false positive then it doesn't matter; they are positive for sure now. Where are the "hot zones"? They are all the same. The only place left open is the one place that can never close, the Emergency Department. They are at breaking point. I cannot find a bed or a chair or a nurse to give the drug. I find doctors with haunted looks who have not taken their mask off for a sip of water in 12 hours.
My husband works in the ED in a tertiary Sydney Hospital. He has seen at least three people die this week who should not have died. None of them had COVID-19. One was a man with diarrhoea. People don't die with diarrhoea - not in Australia. We are a developed country. We are ranked 6th in the world for life expectancy. The family called 3 times for an ambulance and were told each time they could not spare an ambulance to get to them. They didn't say why but we all know why. It's the same reason there are no apples on the shelves. They tell the family to get in their car and drive to the ED. He arrests in the car on his way to the hospital. He cannot be resuscitated. There isn't time to explain to the family what has happened because there are 30 people in the waiting room. Some have COVID-19 but you don't know which ones yet. It could be the young guy who is here because he cut his hand at work. It could be the elderly woman who had a fall at the nursing home. There are 5 doctors this shift who either have COVID-19 or who are close contacts. You do the death certificate and move on.
It's sickening to think that this was all avoidable. Yes, we would have all gotten COVID-19 at some point but we could have handled it if cases were spread out. We would all have been given the best medical treatment when we got COVID-19. Instead we are dying in cars on the way to hospital. We are dying at home before it is time for our booster.
Please look after the people you care about and stay safe. We're doing the best we can in hospital. We are grateful for every person who does the right thing. It's clear from the silence from the authorities that it's up to us now and we're on our own.
- Anonymous
But, but, didn't some posters on here say the "health system is not in crisis", and "everything will be fine"?
A COVID-induced 'exodus' of nurses could make regional shortages worse
The nurses union argues the exhaustion of working during the pandemic is forcing even more people out of the already understaffed profession.
www.abc.net.au
Health networks across the country are under-staffed, and under pressure, and have been throughout the pandemic. Sure, there are graduates coming into the system, but the experienced staff exiting the system are in addition to the normal attrition rates that existed pre-COVID. So net staff levels are falling in many areas. And the net knowledge/experience base with it. There are less experienced staff to train the new staff. But "everything is fine".